Gabriel Safatli and Tanya Desrosiers are celebrating their 10th anniversary of being in business at Gabano’s Pizza in Canora and they’re saying “thank you” to the community.
“We made Gabano’s the business it is. We’re happy here. Canora has been good to us and the kids love it here,” said Safatli.
“Canora has been the biggest chapter in our lives,” he said. “It humbles me thinking how good the Canora people have been to us.”
Safatli said they also worked to earn the patronage received by his business. Ingredients are always fresh and healthy. “We won’t serve anything we wouldn’t eat ourselves – and we eat here every day.”
The pizza business, which is located in the former Glenn’s Billiards building on the first block of Main Street, was started by his cousin Pierre (Joe) Haydar, who called it Tony’s Pizza in honour of his son.
Originally from Halifax where his parents operated a pizzeria, Safatli said he has been making pizza all his life. He also kept close ties with his parents’ ancestral home in Lebanon. His early years were spent in the Halifax area, but when he began Grade 7, he moved to Lebanon to finish his high school education. After high school, he attended university in Lebanon and worked in a pub. After eight years in Lebanon, he returned to Canada and attended Dalhousie University in Halifax, where he continued his studies into computer science.
But it was the family tradition of making pizza, that goes back three generations, which Safatli could not resist. When he heard that his cousin, Pierre Hayder, was doing well in the west, he and Desrosiers who had been together for three years in Halifax, decided to move west where they would set down roots to raise a family.
When they first came to Saskatchewan, they looked around Yorkton for work and Safatli ended up working for a pizza business in Melville. Desrosiers came to Canora in January of 2005 and worked at Tony’s Pizza. Soon afterwards, Haydar decided to sell and Safatli and Desrosiers were looking to buy.
Every pizzeria has its own recipe and style, said Safatli. In Canora, he decided to make an Italian or New York style pizza with a thinner crust, a sauce created by his family and only the best, fresh ingredients, which are prepared daily. Even the dough recipe has been passed down through his family over three generations and it is always made fresh. The meats and cheese are hand cut daily. Baking the pizzas directly on the brick stone in the oven, rather than in a pan, adds much to the texture and flavour of the product.
Sub sandwiches have always been part of the menu because the ingredients are much the same as what is used in pizza, Safatli said. He reiterated that offering the customers the same quality, freshness and healthy food choices that he gives his family is something the customers appreciate.
It was within the first couple of years after they took over the business that the name was changed to Gabano’s Pizza, Safatli said. When thinking of a new name that would be theirs, they began to make a play on Gabriel’s name – Gabe’s – Gabby’s – before finally settling on Gabano’s.
While he always loved where he lived, Safatli said “Canora is really God’s country” and the people have been wonderful. The couple enjoys being part of the community and are always ready to support community projects. For years, the Canora Junior Elementary School has been selling Gabono’s pizzas as a fundraiser and the business reciprocated by donating bicycles as prizes for the accelerated reader program. It was something they had done for years, but last year the Canora Fire Department made the offer to donate the bicycles. Gabano’s continues to support the school in other ways.
Over the years, Gabano’s has supported numerous sports and other programs in the community, including the Canora senior Cobras hockey team when it had an active program.
The couple has two children, Liam, 13, and Michael, 8, who are in grades seven and three, respectively, and Canora has been the only home they’ve known. Safatli and Desrosiers love the idea of continuing to make Canora their home and being part of the community.
To say thank you to their customers for 10 years of patronage, Gabano’s Pizza is celebrating the 10th anniversary with a special on extra large classic pizzas from Wednesday to Friday, this week, and the special will continue on Fridays.
Ěý
